Cholinergic Imaging and Dementia

Research output: Contribution to book/anthology/report/proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

Abstract

There is evidence of early pathological changes in cholinergic neurons of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body disease. This makes cholinergic molecular imaging one of the most important tools for studying prodromal and preclinical disease states of dementia. Various tracers have been developed for visualizing the cholinergic system. They have demonstrated profound cholinergic dysfunction in the cholinergic system of manifest dementia. Cholinergic dysfunction is also evident in prodromal stages of dementia. Evidence points to pathology first arising in the cholinergic axons and cell bodies of the basal forebrain in Alzheimer’s disease dementia and some cases of Parkinson’s disease dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies. In another group of patients with Lewy body disease, the early pathology involves peripheral cholinergic neurons of the parasympathetic nervous system. Cholinergic molecular imaging is an important tool contributing to the search of where and when the pathological processes leading to dementia begins.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMolecular Imaging of Neurodegenerative Disorders
Number of pages18
PublisherSpringer International Publishing
Publication date1 Jan 2023
Pages127-144
ISBN (Print)9783031350979
ISBN (Electronic)9783031350986
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2023

Keywords

  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Cholinergic neurons
  • Dementia
  • Dementia with Lewy bodies
  • Lewy body disease
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Parkinson’s disease dementia
  • PET-CT

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